Silk Threads
by HK-Revan
Summary: Peter Parker woke up on the shores of the Land of Waves. He doesn't remember anything or anyone. He just wants to figure out who he is, where he came from. Maybe even why he could walk up walls. And what is a shinobi?
1. Chapter 1

For a boy who washed up on their island a few weeks ago, he recovered rather quickly thought Tsunami as she watched the men in her life repair the roof. She watched as the brunette hammered in nails, crouched besides Kaiza. Her husband flashed her a grin, twirling the hammer between his fingers. She could spot her grandfather on the ladder, carrying supplies to the roof. Her son, Inari, carefully carried a small bucket of nails. This was the happiest she had ever seen him. With an older stepbrother and stepfather, all was right in the world.

"Peter-san." Tsunami called.

The foreign boy looked up, waving. He was precariously perched on the edge of the roof, unaware of the danger. At that moment, his attention drawn away, Kaiza pushed him. Instead of falling off the roof, the boy grabbed the underside, turning his body so that he was gripping the edge, dangling a few feet over the ground. Tsunami knew she should be used to this, boys and their antics, but she couldn't help but gasp. He was fine though, a smirk on his face.

"Come on, Kaiza! You gotta try better than that!" Peter called out, dropping to the ground in a crouch. "I'm way too witty and pretty to fall for anything you can pull!"

Her husband just laughed, shaking his head. "Next time. I still got to pay you back."

The boy flapped his hand dismissively. "Wait a thousand years, then you might be ready." Peter to the wall and climbed up it, with his hands and feet. He crawled onto the roof like some sort of spider.

Shinobi thought Tsunami. They're remarkable.

* * *

><p>At the break of dawn, Peter Parker woke up, stretched and then climbed out of bed. It's been a few months since he found himself washed up on the shores of the island. All he had with him were scrapes of clothing, a few water stained pictures with his face on it and a watch. The pictures were the strangest, faded images of an older boy and a couple. Were they his family? Did he have a brother? He couldn't remember. Were they looking for him?<p>

The only thing he remembered was his name and the vaguest of memories. Some of it were nightmares, lizard men and goblins. Sometimes if he looked hard enough, he could see faces and with those faces came emotions. When he woke up in the hospital, they said he had a concussion and lacerations. Lucky they said. Peter had washed up after the biggest storm they'd seen, the type of storm that smashed boats and docks.

The man who found him, Kaiza, offered to take him home. Since he had no where else to go after all. With no memories, nothing to tell him where he came from, Peter was lost. Not to mention he was a child, a young boy with no parents, no one to claim him. At Kaiza's home, he met his wife, his wife's father and Inari. He was only supposed to stay for a few days, not a few weeks. But days turned into weeks and Peter found himself fitting in. Even after he found out about his skills.

A few weeks ago there was an incident. Tazuna wanted to build a bridge, so they could trade with the mainlands and not rely on others. He wanted the Land of Wave to stand up for itself. He even had a backer, a man named Gato. Gato was apparently the founder of Gato company and wanted to buy out the shipping routes, and conglomerate all the individual business under one name. Kaiza was rather skeptical of that, having a big named company come in and basically control their exports and imports was suspicious. Not to mention, as a fisherman, this would threaten his livelihood. There was many arguments between the two on what they should do.

Peter and Inari found comfort in not being in the house, instead wandering the mangroves-searching for prey. The doctor had put Peter at approximately eleven years old which made him the eldest of the pair. At first Inari was rather suspicious of the older boy, thinking he was here to steal Kaizo away. They were both the same, both of them rescued by the fisherman. The hostility from the younger boy could have warmed a hut in winter.  
>Eventually he won the other over.<p>

"Do you think we should build a bridge?" Inari asked, using a stick to smack at a few bushes as they walked.

Peter shrugged, his light brown eyes scanning the area. The knife on his belt was just there as a deterrent, the mangroves weren't safe for little children after all. He had promised Tsunami to keep an eye on Inari. She hugged him when he said that, hugged him and threaded his fingers through his hair-a look of sadness in her eyes.

"Well I think, Kaizo is right. We don't need Gato. We could do this ourselves!"

Peter continued to nod, his eyes narrowed. Some days he woke up on the ceiling, like someone glued him there. And then there was this sixth sense, this danger sense that warned him when something went wrong. He wasn't sure if he could talk to anyone about it. Would they think he was a freak? A monster? Sometimes when he dreamed, there would voices and faces that looked so angry and fearful. What happened to him?

Suddenly, something darted out of the bushes right at Inari. Peter didn't even get a good look at it, he just dove, pulling the younger boy out of the way. The creature stopped, turning around, tusks gleaming in the light. It charged at them both. At six hundred pounds, it could kill a man. The flimsy knife Peter had wouldn't stop it from goring them both. Without thinking, he grabbed the back of Inari's shirt and jumped. They were dozens of feet in the trees before Inari had a chance to scream. The boar made a loud noise seeking his prey before throwing his head to the side and wandering away.

Up in the tree tops, one hand planted on the trunk, his other hand holding Inari Peter breathed. They were on a tree, standing on a tree trunk, and he was casually lifting the other boy who weighed more than a sack of rice. It was like in his dream where he was walking on shimmering glass, swinging through an industrial land with looming towers.

"Woah." Inari breathed out. "That was cool."

When they returned home, Inari immediately spilled the beans. "Then Peter jumped and we were high off the ground!" The boy demonstrated, or tried to. The aforementioned boy stood by the doorway, his posture hunched. He was prepared for the worst.

Kaiza looked at Tazuna before speaking. "Peter-san, have you ever heard of shinobi?"


	2. Gato

A/N: Thank you Skreech! I'm glad you like this. Hope you stay for the adventure!

* * *

><p>It was hard to see the Land of Waves change as it did. The once prosperous Land of Waves became downtrodden, beaten into submission. What once used to be a functional hospital now stood empty. The marketplace was now quiet, stores hawking what little they had. Hired thugs stood on the corners, threatening helpless people. Their spirit stolen from them.<p>

Gato had brought with him, aside from his money but his men. In a matter of days, he had taken over all the shipping routes, fired the local fisherman and sold them back at a high price. Those who wanted to keep their jobs, paid Gato for the privilege. The only job that still remained was construction. Personally, he thought it was amusing that they were so desperate in building their bridge. After making a public display of the leader, a messy business, the town had quieted down.

"Chase them off." Gato ordered to his personal bodyguards. "Kill the old man. He's the one spearheading this. String his body up for everyone to see."

Zori nodded. "Got ya boss."

Working for Gato was easy, simple even. Small places like this were easy money. They didn't have any shinobi and certainly didn't have any money to hire anyone. It was like taking candy from a baby.

Waraji grunted his affirmation, and they both headed off to Tazuna's place. They'd drag the man out, beat him and leave him with a warning. Simple. Easy money. Zori would be back at the gambling den, betting on dice. He could taste the sake right now.

Suddenly a fist darted out of the shadow, almost smacking Zori square in the gut. The samurai turned, his hand on the hilt of his blade, sliding his katana out in one swift movement, cutting into the wall. "Oi, show yourself before I cut your head off!"

From the shadows stepped...a boy with a red handkerchief tied around the lower part of his face. "A kid?" Waraji sneered.

"You guys killed Kaiza." The boy stated, glaring at them.

"Yeah? Aww, are you here to avenge him? Listen up kid, if you don't get out of our way we're gonna kill you and dump your body off the docks. No one is gonna know. You don't want your poor mommy crying about her kid." Zori pointed his sword. "There arn't any heroes here."

The kid didn't back down, merely raising a hand, gesturing.

Waraji charged, striking down, cutting the pole behind the boy. As for the kid himself, he jumped over the two samurai landing behind them. From his hand something shiny gleamed, small round balls tossed at their feat, a thick cloud enveloping them both. It smelled sweet. "Gas!"

The last thing Zori remembered was the feeling of pain blossoming in his head and Waraji yelling something. He woke up tied upside down from a lamppost over the half made bridge, Waraji drooling next to him. "Shit." Zori squirmed in the rope, swearing. "Oi. Waraji! Wake up!" That damn kid. He could see people coming out of their houses to stare and laugh at them.

* * *

><p>Gato stared at his kneeling bodyguards and then threw his glass at them. "Idiots! One child stopped you?"<p>

Zori stared at the carpet.

"One child." Gato fumed. "Beat you both up and tied you to the bridge. This will not stand."

All that hard work in dismembering Kaiza in public and this is what he had to deal with? A single boy who outsmarted his guards, humiliated them and by extension him. He almost had this entire place under his thumb. It was time he had some professional help. He had invested too much time and too much money into this than to let it all get ruined because of one kid.

"Get me a demon." The entrepreneur snarled.

Never send an amateur to do a professional's job.

* * *

><p>"Kill a bridge builder?" Zabuza repeated. "For two million?"<p>

"That was the message, Zabuza-sama." Haku said quietly. "Half of it now, the other half after the job."

"Gato, eh?" The missing-nin scowled. He normally wouldn't work with such scum, but the money was good. Too good. Still beggars couldn't be choosers. The Mizukage wasn't going to die anytime soon. A slime ball like Gato wouldn't want to part with his money. He would probably back stab them at the first opportunity.

"Of Gato Company. He's a shipping magnate and also a drug dealer. He's using the country to front his goods and to make an empire. Anyone in his way have been dealt with. Women and children have disappeared."

Zabuza's eyes flicked up. "Concerned?"

"Sir?"

"You're just a tool Haku." The demon of the mist reiterated those words, perhaps to convince himself more so than to convince Haku. "These people don't matter."

"Yes sir."

"Tell Gozu and Meizu to watch the paths leading in and out of the country." Zabuza stood, hefting his gigantic decapitating carving knife. It'd take a few days to get to the Land of Waves. Shit could happen between those days. Years of training and missions taught him that if something wrong is going to happen, it will. With his luck, someone would interfere. Probably a jonin. Can't a guy kill in peace?

"When this job is over, we're going to kill Gato. Take the rest of his money and then kill the Mizukage." He grinned. "It'd be a public service."

* * *

><p>"Peter-san." Tsunami gripped the boy's face with her hand. After Kaiza had died, both of her boys had began to drift. Inari became quiet, angry and distant. Peter was never in the house, always off in the mangrove forest. And her father drank himself to sleep every night. "Where were you last night? You didn't come home for dinner. I was so worried!"<p>

He bruises on his face, and he was limping, holding his side. "Did you get into a fight?"

There was this look in his eyes, a fragility that made him younger, more vulnerable. She knew he was doing something but what? What used to be a happy household was now shrouded in sorrow. "Look at me." She wasn't his mother, she wasn't his blood but she cared all the same.

"Grandfather left to seek help." It was hard to say this, to lay this burden on his thin shoulders. "If it doesn't...go right, I wanted to ask if you would take care of Inari. Take him away, go someplace safe."

His skin was warm under her touch. "I know it's a lot to ask but I've always considered you my family, and I know Inari does as well. He just needs space and time."

She would die first before letting any harm come to her son. But after she was gone, who would take care of her boy?

"I will." Peter said, putting his hand on hers. She could see the scraped knuckles, the small cuts along his hand.

"Let's get those cuts looked after. Alright?" Tsunami gently pulled him with her to the kitchen. There she got some clean towels and hot water. She lead him to the table, and he climbed up on it. After soaking the towels in hot water, she finally caught a look at his injuries.

His shirt was ripped, a clean cut down his chest. Like someone struck at him with a sword. After taking his shirt off, she could see the bruises along his ribs. She cleaned his cuts, wrapping the bandage around his upper torso. On his back, the mark of the spider stood out stark against his pale skin. It didn't look like any scar she'd ever seen, more like a tattoo.

In this quiet she worked, and in this quiet she hoped.

"When will grandpa come back?" Peter asked in that quiet voice, a touch of sorrow coloring his words.

"Soon. You will go and watch out for him?"

"Yeah."


	3. Sasuke

A/N: Thank you Skreech! Hopefully this will be a bit of an adventure!

And I'm not doing the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza. It's been beaten over with a stick and then set on fire. A lot.

* * *

><p>Sasuke's mind was a thousand miles away. His sensei had the sharingan. But it wasn't his own, it was transplanted. It explained why he wore his headband over it. The sharingan was constantly activated, draining chakra with each passing second. One day he would activate his own sharingan and use it to kill his brother. He just needed to train more, to make it awaken. He felt his hands clench into a fist.<p>

Itachi..._one day I will kill you._

"-training." Kakashi finished, looking at the door.

There was a boy around their age, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. There was something else about him that felt_ different_. Sasuke glanced at his teammates to see if they caught it.

"Oi! Who are you?" Naruto shouted. Did he ever had an inside voice?

"Peter!" Tazuna grinned. "Come meet the shinobi who saved my life!"

Peter arched an eyebrow. "These kids saved your life?"

"OI!" Naruto jumped to his feet. "We're shinobi! Adults!" He pointed to his headband as he spoke.

"What's all this noise?" Another voice, younger. Peter half turned revealing a younger child with a hat. He crossed the threshold, walking around Peter and climbing up to hug Tazuna.

"Inari." Tsunami rose from her place on the floor. "Say hello to the people who saved Grandpa."

Inari frowned at her words, "Mom, these people are going to die."

"What did you say you little brat!" Naruto just about yelled, looking indignant.

"There's no way you're going to win against Gato."

"You brat! Why I oughta-" Naruto almost jumped forward if not for Sakura who grabbed his arm. "Inari! Listen. I am a superhero and a great ninja and one day I will be Hokage! There is no way I won't beat Gato!"

For a second there was a moment of silence, mostly out of incredulity. Sasuke resisted the urge to facepalm. Despite being on multiple D-class missions with the blonde idiot, Naruto seems to be able to reach new heights of stupidity. Even he could feel the severity in the air, the despair that had settled on this village like a fog.

"What are you, stupid?" Inari sneered. "There's no such thing as a hero."

"WHAT!"

"Inari." Tsunami scolded. "Mind your manners."

The boy glared at the sliding door before opening it. "Yea." He mumbled before vanishing.

Naruto was already striding down the room, following Inari through the opening.

"Ehhh..." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

"So." Peter began. "You guys are ninjas?"

"Yep."

"Huh." Peter half turned before looking back at Kakashi.

"That is Kakashi, their teacher. He's the only reason I even trusted them in the first place!" Tazuna added, helpfully. "They protected me from a really dangerous guy."

"The big sword guy right?"

"Yep!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. They didn't tell anyone who exactly attacked, just that he was dangerous. He could see Kakashi take interest, sitting straighter, now looking at the brunette with renewed interest. Peter didn't look like much, but then only the best could hide in the plain sight. Besides, there was something about this guy that he couldn't pin down. With Kakashi out of commission, it would fall to him and his teammates to protect the client.

A few hours later, Sasuke found himself sneaking down the hallway. After a rather hellish time trying to walk up a damn tree, he was finally going to lay to rest a few issues. The branches of the trees that he was training on had the marks of use. Like someone was using them as a means of travel.

There.

Movement. Sasuke pulled the kunai out of his pouch. He turned the corner, prepared for anything.

Nothing.

"Tch." He placed the kunai back into his holster, turning on his heel.

"Hey."

He lashed out with his fist before his eyes even registered the image. Sasuke felt the iron hard grip on his wrist, before he was swung and shoved up against the wall, an elbow against his throat. His arm was pinned to the wall, the kunai falling from limp fingers. He pushed grunting with effort. His arm wouldn't move. Sasuke stared at the other boy, stared into those chocolate colored eyes. Just like the hunter-nin, someone who was his age and yet better than him. Would he always be this weak? How could he ever be strong enough to defeat Itachi when he couldn't even stop this guy?

For a second his mind flashed back to Itachi. Then to his team. He was Sasuke Uchiha. He was top of his class! And he wasn't going to lose, not here.

Not now.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and kicked out. Idiot didn't knock him out, didn't disable his other limbs. This guy may be strong but he wasn't better than him. The heel of his sandal hit nothing but air, as Peter twisted out of the way, letting Sasuke go. Sasuke surged forward, kicking forward. In the small enclosure, it would be difficult to move around.

"Uff." He felt himself flipped. He bounced off the ceiling, landing in a crouch.

Peter stood there, watching him. He flexed his fingers. So this was a shinobi?

"Why are you stronger than me!?" Asked Sasuke, his hand reaching into the back of his pack.

Peter held his hands up. "Not that strong." He wanted to say something witty but they were moving so fast, he'd probably just bite his tongue.

Sasuke charged his hands flashing through seals. He took a deep breath, ex-

A fist slammed into his sternum, knocking out all his air. He hit the ground, wheezing. "Sorry. I can't let you do your magic." Said the feet. No, it was the voice that owned the feet. His vision was swimming and he could barely breathe past the pain.

"Maa, maa." Another pair of feet. Hands helped him up, leaned him against the wall. Then footfalls.

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked at Peter, his single eye narrowed.<p>

Peter stared out at the ocean. He looked back, hands in his pocket. "Sorry bout that."

Kakashi shrugged. "No harm done." He had watched the fight from his hiding spot. The only reason it went the way it did was because Sasuke was suffering from chakra depletion. But, he couldn't discredit how fast Peter was. "You never had formal training, did you?"

"No."

He couldn't recall any bounties that matched the boy's description. Probably some civilian with greater than average chakra stores. Maybe even bloodline brat. Procedure dictated that he should investigate the situation, see if the target could be retrievable. Children with bloodlines were useful, and a valuable commodity.

"Did you ever want to learn how to do...ninja magic?"


	4. Haku and Sakura

A/N: Thank you Skreech! I wish I could actually reply to your messages, but alas your PM's are blocked.

WebHermit : Well for the whole wall walking thing, I was thinking that Peter's "bloodline" automatically augments his chakra and he has super tiny hairs all over his body that lets him stick to things. Of course, when he tries to learn water walking, that'd probably be super difficult.

A bit of insight on the people, on their motives, their dreams. With a bit of fighting of course. As for Peter's strength, I as looking over the comics and most of his incarnations and it was a bit difficult to peg exactly how strong he is. But he's certainly faster and stronger than regular genin. He can lift 20 tons when he's an adult. He could dodge bullet fire point blank. So..yaa

He's also a lot smarter, so that will be put into play.

Peter's disadvantage in this is that this isn't his world. Ninjas are sneaky and don't go around, shouting** I AM VICTOR VON DOOM**

Also, their magic is kinda...magicky. Like Haku's little bloodline trick is ...just...no. Just. No.

Also this is before Peter's transformation in the comics. I'll probably dabble in some sort of Spider God and spider contracts and stuff like that.

* * *

><p>Sakura yawned and stretched as she sat on a wooden box. This mission was steadily becoming something akin to a C-rank and she was quite glad of it. She didn't want to go up against those two dangerous nin. Unlike the boys, Sakura knew that victory would not be assured after a few weeks of training. Or that they would be fated to win. Bad things happen to people. She was from a civilian family, having chosen the path of a ninja to follow someone. She could have so easily chosen to do something less dangerous, and yet here she was. Unlike Sasuke and Naruto, whose own dreams were to become great ninja, she wanted to be recognized by Sasuke. She wanted Ino to realize she was a serious rival for his affections. Now that may be rather selfish and a bit odd, but it was no stranger than anyone else's dreams.<p>

She watched Peter pick up a box and carry it across the bridge and return to repeat the task. "Peter-san?"

Peter paused, box in hand, blinking owlishly at her.

"I'm sorry, about last night. I shouldn't have brought up Kaiza." It was foolish to bring up something like that. Their jonin-sensei should have been the one asking the questions, not stupid genin like herself.

"Hm." The brunette looked puzzled by her apology. "It's fine. I really shouldn't be the one that you should apologize to."

Sakura recalled how angry Inari was, but that anger was directed at Peter and she never understood why. Not to mention Sasuke's intense stare at Peter during the whole dinner. "What did happen? Why was Inari so angry? Arn't you brothers?"

Peter placed the box down, sitting on it. "It's not that simple. And I deserve his anger. I should have helped Kaiza, I could have..."

"But what could you have done? It's not like you're a ninja. You're just a kid."

His eyes focused on hers. "You're right." Peter got up and walked away leaving Sakura flabbergasted.

"Eh?" Sakura blinked, shaking her head. Boys, she didn't understand them. She walked over to the box and knelt down to pick it up. It didn't budge.

_What in the..._

Sakura grunted, pushing with all her might. It didn't move.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up, blinking his eyes. He had passed out again while training. He yawned, barely catching an apple from above. It was bright and red.<p>

"You looked hungry." Said a voice above him. "Were you here all night?"

"Yeah! I've got to train!"

"Train all night?"

"Yep!" Naruto continued to stare at the direction of the voice, which was he thinking would have been rather strange given that the voice was coming from the treetops. "I've got to beat Sasuke!"

"Working yourself into exhaustion will help you beat Sasuke?"

Naruto actually began to think. "Exhaustion?"

"..."

Naruto sat up, rubbing the leaves out of his hair. Peter was standing a few feet away looking amused. Odd, didn't his voice come from the tree tops?

"What are you doing?" Peter pointed to the marks on the tree.

"Tree climbing! It's super secret ninja training." Naruto jumped up to his feet, and as to demonstrate just how super secret ninja training it was, ran up the tree.

As Peter predicted, the exhaustion kicked in and Naruto came crashing back down to Earth.

"Huh."

"Ow." Naruto gripped his head in pain, squirming on the ground.

There was the sound of a light snicker causing both boys to turn around. A rather pretty girl stood in the clearing, a basket in hand. She was laughing at them. Or at Naruto and his antics.

Naruto immediately went to help her, grabbing Peter and dragging him along as if they were old friends. "This is medicine?" He asked as he plucked the plants from the stem and deposited it into her basket.

Haku nodded. "It is for my friend."

While they chatted, Haku was busy identifying threats and weaknesses. It was the same orange clothed boy who had shouted at him. "You were training? Are you a...ninja?"

"Yeah!" It was almost painful to see the happiness of acknowledgement in Naruto's face. It was just like his when Zabuza found him. "Why do you want to train more? You look strong enough."

"I want to be the strongest ninja in my village. I'm going to make everyone acknowledge my strength. And I also have something to prove to someone."

Haku felt himself smile. Naruto's energy was infectious as was his resolve. Had they met another time, he would have believed him. "And you?"

Peter raised both eyebrows. "I'm not a ninja."

_Liar_, thought Haku. He had seen Peter drop an apple from under a tree branch, his feet sticking to the wood. If Peter wasn't a shinobi, he'd eat his mask.

The quiet boy looked to have been distancing himself from the conversation. "Naruto, are you training for yourself? Or for someone else?"

"Eh?"

"Do you have someone important to you?" Asked Haku, thinking of Zabuza-sama. Of his own past, and his own history.

Naruto looked between the two, confusion on his face.

"With great power, comes great responsibility." Said Peter softly, staring at the ground. His own thoughts had drifted to the dreams he'd been having. About an elderly couple, apple pie and a woman with red hair.

"When you fight for someone else's sake, therein lies true strength." Haku smiled gently. "Do you understand?"

No, not really. But Naruto knew about protecting others, and being protected in turn. His precious people, those who he would die for. He grinned widely. "Yeah. I understand."

Haku stood, grabbing the bag of herbs. "I know you'll be strong." He turned to walk away. "Let's meet sometime later." As he walked away, another thought occurred. "By the way, I'm a guy."

He passed the other two genin, without suspicion. It was a good two miles away before he began traveling at faster speeds, towards the base that Zabuza-sama had set up. The intelligence gathering mission had gone off with success. The blonde was no threat he had poor chakra control. When they had briefly met when he had come to retrieve Zabuza-sama, Haku had the suspicion that he would be. Naruto had felt dangerous. It was an odd feeling, much like the way a rabbit would feel before a fox.

As for the other boy...

He was an unknown. Before accepting Gato as a client, Haku had done some research to figure out as to why someone like Gato would wish to higher them. Missing-nin always carried the risk of hunter-nin interfering. To hire a missing-nin was risky and mostly out of desperation. What Haku found out was there was a mystery assailant who would beat up Gato's thugs. No one knew who this person was. The last straw was when Gato's own personal guards were found beaten up.

Zabuza-sama had came prepared to fight another missing-nin, someone who had made a home out of the Land of Wave. What he didn't expect was to fight the Copy-Cat Kakashi.

Haku worked over his memory, recalling every detail of the brunette. A bit younger than him, decent chakra control and fairly fast. Aside from that, there was nothing else for Haku to work on. Oh well. That wasn't the issue. The jonin and his genin team were.

A pity, Haku liked Naruto. That kid had the same loneliness he did. The same starved look for affection.

* * *

><p>Naruto just about slumped on the table. So this was exhaustion. What a long word for a horrible feeling. Maaaan, it felt like his limbs were going to fall off. And his head! Just gonna rest it here. Yep. Oh this table was so nice and cold. Ah, feels so good. Hmmm, ramen.<p>

"Why do you guys try so hard? You're no match for Gato's men! No matter how hard you work or how loudly you yell, you're still going to die. When facing the strong, the weak will die!" In a quieter voice. "_Even Aniki couldn't do anything." _

"Whatever, I'm not like you."

Inari was bawling at this point, his temper tantrum determined to run its course. He'd done this before, yelled at his older brother for being unable to save Kaiza. Yelling at anyone who would try to comfort him. Crying alone in his room.

"Who the hell do you think you are! You come here, being all loud and nosy! You don't even know me. You clown around, acting cheerful! You don't know how hard life could be!"

Naruto flinched, sitting up, a cold fury building up inside his body. This brat had no idea who he was, what he had to get through. "Shut up." He glared at Inari, furious. "What, are you going to just cry at me? Think that's going to change anything?!"

"Stop crying and do something about it. You little shit." And with that eloquent response, Naruto stormed out of the room. He didn't listen to Sakura's angry words, he just walked out to the docks. There he watched the waves.

He had promised himself a long time ago to stop crying. It didn't help him. His tears had abandoned him. The only way he got through life was to be strong, to never give up on himself. To never let other people's judgement hurt him. He closed himself off, plastered a fake smile on his face and let everyone see the mask. It worked and Naruto never cried for anyone.

But then Iruka-sensei began to teach and began to care. Soon Naruto's little world was filled with another occupant. And then another.

Naruto stared blankly at the stars and the moon. He might break that promise to himself, he'd already cried for Iruka. He cared deeply for his team. He didn't want to disappoint them, not Kakashi-sensei, not Sasuke and surely not Sakura. So deep in his musings, he didn't notice a figure jump past him.

* * *

><p>Peter stood at the corner, listening to Kakshi explain to Inari about Naruto. And when he finally left, Peter walked by and sat on the docks. "Hey."<p>

Inari looked up, his face still red and his cheeks still wet. "Aniki."

"Want to go for a ride?"

A few minutes later they were in the mangroves where they used to hang out. He placed Inari on the tree limb, while he sat next to him, legs crossed.

"I'm sorry." Peter said after a long silence. "I wished I was there to save Kaiza."

In a surprising show of maturity, Inari simply said. "I know." There was still a slight hiccup in his voice, his words marred by tears.

"Can I tell you a story?"

"Unh."

"There was once a boy who had two loving parents. Well, they were his relatives. His parents died a long time ago." He was starting to make sense of his dreams, however vague them may be. "He lived with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May..."

* * *

><p>By the time Kakashi and two-thirds of his team arrived on the bridge, it was a sight of carnage. The workers lied on the ground bleeding. "What is this?" Tazuna asked, rushing forward to one of the workers. "Who did this?"<p>

"A monster." Rasped the worker. "He-your grandson saved-"

The mist rolled in. Kakashi grabbed Tazuna and dragged him with them. While he was mildly concerned for the injured workers, Tazuna was his client.

"Here they come!"

Hopefully the training for his cute little genin worked.


	5. Peter beats up a girl

A/N: Yes, trying to figure out how to explain powers...maybe I should just say, it's magic. Don't argue. Magic. Just magic.

And yes, souls. I require them. Err or was that socks?

* * *

><p><em>Hi, my name is Peter Parker and I just got kicked in the gut and off a bridge over an ocean. Suffice to say it hurt.<em>

That guy must have had size 13 boots thought Peter as he floated in the ocean, in considerable pain. It took a lot of effort to jut breathe. It was a mixture of luck and skill that saved Peter from a crushed skull. He may be strong, durable but he was still a rather small kid and eighty pounds soaking wet.

Now, this all started when he went to work early to help move a few heavy boxes. That and review the plans. Peter had discovered that he was rather brilliant. After listening to Tazuna talk about the engineering aspects of the bridge, he found himself studying the plans and making small notes on the side. In short, he realized he had a knack for building things and from there made extra money repairing electronics.

He could fix a radio, stove, anything. People were quite eager for his services, stating that they were far better after he fixed them.

Anyways, so that was why he was on the bridge early in the morning to meet to talk to a fellow worker. They were used to seeing Tazuna's adopted grandson putter about the construction site.

It was while he was on that bridge, staring out on the ocean, thinking of a city built of towering glass and metal that he felt it.

Another thing Peter learned was that he could sense danger. It was some sort of tingling sensation in the back of his head.

Peter ducked, a split second later something slammed into the metal by his head. It was a kunai. He bolted, running towards the workers, reaching the ones that were closet to him. He dragged them down, something whistling through the air too fast to be seen. He jumped again, unable to see anything but his spider senses were tingling! They did this little dance for a few more seconds before something booted Peter in the stomach. Pain turned his vision black, the force of the blow sending him off the bridge itself and into the water.

Zabuza turned, eyeing the carnage. His trap was set. Now he just had to wait for the mice.

* * *

><p>He could <em>see<em>.

Sasuke stared at his opponent, ignoring the pain of the senbon needles. He could see and that was all that mattered. He had unlocked the sharingan and with it came a clarity he had only dreamed about. This time he was able to dodge those needles, protecting a hopefully conscious Naruto. The blonde idiot had charged in without thinking and had joined him in this prison.

Idiot.

He had to break those mirrors, or at least catch Haku. This jutsu must cost a decent amount of chakra. If he couldn't get out, he could stall long enough for the jutsu to become fragile. Then he could break though. But it looked like they wouldn't get anywhere near that point. He knew he was tiring, knew his own supply of chakra was dwindling.

They might actually die here. The thought was unlike him. Was he willing to die? Or was it that he had accepted the reality of it? That there was someone stronger than him, that that person would end his life before he could go after Itachi? Was he that weak? His thoughts turned to that of his teammates. He was grateful for them despite how annoying they both were. They had became his friends. Naruto saw him and only him, not the bloodline or the clan behind it. As for Sakura, well she didn't count. Maybe one day Kakashi-sensei would tell him how he got his eye.

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

Idiot.

He surged forward, kunai ready.

"My body moved on its own." Sasuke mumbled through numbed lips. "Idiot."

* * *

><p>It was a feel of pure evil, or malice or something...something something darkside.<p>

Peter climbed onto the bridge soaking wet, shivering. It felt like something was crawling under his skin, under his eyeballs. It was freaky. It was the sort of feeling that someone doesn't forget easily and it was strange familiar. But not in a deja-vu sense, in more of a, oh god oh god sense. Not to mention his back itched something fierce.

He couldn't see a damn thing in this fog. Which certainly didn't help with a pink thing tried to kick him. He stopped her forward momentum with one hand, catching her ankle and pushing it away. "Sakura?"

A few feet from her was Tazuna.

"Peter?" All pink and girly she still looked rather fearsome with the kunai in her hand. "Have you seen Sasuke or Naruto?" And then a slow blink. "..Why are you here?" She asked suspiciously. "And how were-"

Peter ducked as she slashed at him. He was going to say something quirky and witty but seeing how his life was in some danger, he instead reflected on much classier one-liners. Things like, cat got your tongue? Or, haha I am your friendly neighborhood spiderman! Maybe something truly devastating like, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Meanwhile Sakura was sure this Peter was a water clone henged to look like Peter so she would let her guard down. But she was not so easily fooled! Only a water clone would be able to block her attack! She attacked fiercely, channeling chakra into her limbs to make herself faster and stronger. Sasuke-kun would be so impressed! She would present him with the story of her victory and he would be so proud of her.

Peter ducked and weaved, easily dodging all of Sakura's attacks. He didn't want to hurt her, really. But he also didn't want to get hurt either. When a rather strange expression crossed Sakura's face, a mix between adoration and pleasure, he took off. In fact, he was concentrating so hard on getting away from the pink menace he didn't exactly check where he was going. The mist didn't help either.

He slammed into someone, hard, knocking them both onto the ground.

Zabuza stared up at the boy and growled.

Peter smiled weakly. "...What pretty teeth you have.."


	6. Haku is Awesome, yes?

A/N:

**Guest: Yes, I was thinking of something where Peter says his first name is Peter and everyone else thinks it's Parker because of how he introduces himself and the language barrier that isn't really apparent makes it a bit apparent. It was a tiny silly joke. As for Kakashi and his face, well I'm sure a lot of people would be gaping as Peter demonstrates just how easy it is to walk on surfaces. Except for water. He'd probably have to practice that one.**

**WebHermit: I plan on going as far as I could without violating any laws of reality. Until it stops being funny really. Or another idea takes my muse into a dark alley and beats it. I do plan on going towards the Tsunade Arc, in fact I have actual plans. Which is stronger, the slug princess or a spider? **

**Skreech: Thank you. I try not to jump from so many POV's but I just can't seem to find the right one yet. Yes Sasuke is a dick and doesn't really think Sakura is a friend, an annoyance for sure. She isn't impressive or have impressed him at all. **

**Woot, thank you everyone for sticking with me so far! Now for some badass moments from Peter!**

* * *

><p>Haku hadn't intended to die on that bridge, then again no one wants to die not when their dreams were still attainable. But that is how life works out, sometimes someone just stabs you and you die. Simple. Easy.<p>

Naurto stopped his fist an inch away from Haku's face. He just didn't understand. "Why? You're that guy..."

Or maybe he really did want to die. "I killed your precious friend, didn't I? Why can't you kill me?" This boy was too soft for this world.

Naruto's fist smashed against his face, his head smacking onto the concrete, yet it didn't hurt. Haku wiped the blood away from his split lip, staring at the boy in orange. "What happened? You can't kill me like that." Where was that monstrous chakra?

"I've no use in this world anymore, Zabuza-sama has no need for weak ninja." Haku smiled. "You have taken away from reason for existing."

Naruto didn't understand. "That guy? The one with no eyebrows and the huge sword! The one..." He couldn't..._understand _"That guy is your most precious person? Your only precious person?" Come to think of it, there was no one else here and the other two were probably dead...

"I had parents." Haku began quietly, his eyes like glass. "They loved me very much. I was born in a small snowy village in the country of mist. But..." He looked at his bloodstained hands.

"But what?"

"Humans do things because of fear, irrational fear and sometimes justified fear." He smiled, pain in his expression. "Where I'm from, those with special abilities are feared. My abilities and that young man's abilities are used endlessly in the Mist's constant civil wars. There are those who believe that we are the reason for the war, for the constant suffering when it..."

"My father killed my mother and then tried to kill me." Even after all those years, Haku couldn't say those words without a lump forming in his throat. "I killed him. I don't exactly remember what happened...but I know that with these two hands..."

"At that time I had thought of myself as..." _Monster. Only a monster kills their parent. _"I had thought of that but then I realized a more painful thing."

"Whatya..." Even numbskull Naruto could see the pain in Haku's face, the same that was reflected in him when he was younger.

"That I am unwanted." Haku had seen the same loneliness in Naruto's face. It was different than the stony mask that was the Uchiha's face, it spoke of a different pain. "You had said that you wanted to become Hokage and have everyone acknowledge you. Now if someone had acknowledged you, wouldn't you hold that person to the highest esteem? Zabuza-sama took me in even knowing what I am, trained me. I was so happy."

"Naruto-san, please kill me."

Naruto stared, all quiet and shocked. "No." He clenched his fist. "If that weird guy is your precious person, don't you think he feels the same way towards you? That he wouldn't want you to die? That your life means more to him? 'Sides I don't think you're weak. You've held on this long, your strength is your own. As long as I have my hands I will keep fighting for my dream, keep getting stronger. A really smart person told me that."

"...I thought you were like me, that you would understand how I felt." Now it was Haku who was surprised.

"I do." Naruto said earnestly. "But I'm not here today because I gave up. I want you to fight for yourself, I know it sounds silly me telling you this but...I like you Haku." And he smiled. "And I'm not gonna kill you just cuz you ask me to. Sasuke had his own dreams but...you're not a bad guy."

Haku felt his eyes twitch. "...You're really weird Naruto-kun."

"Hehe, I know."

He didn't understand this kid, or how he could smile like that. Maybe he could tell Naruto that his friend might actually be alive.

Naruto blinked in shock as Haku visibly shuddered, his eyes darting to another part of the mist. "Sorry Naruto-kun, I must go."

* * *

><p>It was hard to tell who was more surprised. Peter who slammed into a man who was twice his height and weight, tackling him into the ground dragging the dogs with him. Zabuza who felt like a freight train smacked into his already bleeding and tired body, or Kakashi who had planned on stabbing the missing nin with his lightning fist. Perhaps it was Haku who had teleported in to save his partner only to stumble over Peter's legs and crash into the ground.<p>

"Huh." Kakashi said eloquently, having saved himself from tripping but it still didn't stop his lighting fist from plowing a deep furrow into the bridge itself. His nin dogs vanished as their summoning contract was mercilessly targeted by senbon needles.

The mist had faded.

He could see Naruto running up, by himself oddly. And then there was Sakura still protecting the client. Good girl.

"Arg!" Zabuza roared, getting to his feet, hefting his sword. "Haku!"

"Right here sir." By his side as always. Perhaps Naruto was right, he would not die.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "You're alright! Where's Sasuke! Naruto! Where is he?"

His flinch was all she needed. She half turned, wanting. Tazuna took her hand, gently and they both walked past Naruto.

"Tch, looks like my student is better than yours!" Zabuza smirked. He started to dash forward, thinking, that he would win. They would get their money, kill Gato and leave this place.

Haku began the hand signs, tired perhaps too exhausted to notice the third body. Peter grabbed Haku's wrist and dragged him down. "Hi." He grinned. "Sorry." And headbutted the other boy. Suffice to say, two frontal lobe injuries was all Haku's body was willing to suffer for the day. Haku went down like a sack of bricks.

Zabuza caught sight of his student falling, and a flicker of fear traveled up his spine. His second was taken down like an untrained genin, maybe Kakashi's brats were better than he thought. He attacked Kakashi, thinking in his head...thinking of what he could do with that money. For a mere second his thoughts traveled to the past, to when he was training Haku. That kid...

Kakashi knew this was over. Zabuza hadn't fully recovered from before and while Kakashi wasn't at his best, he knew that the other ninja was distraught. He stabbed him in the other arm, rendering him as a ninja useless for a while. It would seem that this mission was over.

"It's over."

Thonk. The sound of a cane slamming onto the ground. "You're getting your ass kicked. How sad. And here I thought I hired a devil of the mist. Guess you're just a little minnow than a shark. Zabuza!"

Whatever rant or speech Gato was going to say was interrupted. "Hey, now that is a horrible analogy. Or was it a pun?" Peter waved from where he stood by Haku's unconscious body. "What? Oh...sorry. Carry on."

Gato cleared his throat. "Zabuza I had planned on betraying you the moment you showed weakness! I never intended to give you any money! Hah. Fool. Hiring a ninja from a village is too expensive and they might see my dealings as ethically wrong. Bah, like ninja have any reason to be on the moral high ground. But missing nin? Easier to take care of. Get them to fight other ninja and then kill them with overwhelming numbers."

"Wow, you kinda of remind of this really fat bastard who wasn't really fat but huge. Like all muscle and really evil. Smart evil. Well, just mean." Peter interrupted again, still crouched over Haku. "You just get your kicks ruining people's lives and happiness."

Zabuza knew at that moment that he didn't give a damn about the mission, about fighting the Konoha ninja. He wanted his money and maybe a chance to kill Gato. "Our fight is over. I have no intentions towards Tazuna." His eyes were fixated on Haku and on Gato and how close their proximity were. Even a child could kill.

"You're right." Right now they had a mob to deal with.

Gato walked over to Haku and Peter, looking more at the boy on the ground with disdain. "This one.." His arm tinged painfully at the memory. "Squeezed my arm till it broke."

With the army behind him, he felt no need to feel fear. Gato stepped closer. He swung his foot at the boy. There was something unsettling about the brunette, the way he crouched over the ninja.

Kakashi and Zabuza both wanted to rush forward, but in their condition it would do more harm than good.

Peter caught Gato's foot with a hand. He was sorely tempted to punt this sad excuse of a human being into the ocean. Instead he let go and stood, still quite shorter than Gato but intimidating enough. "You should step away." Peter said clearly, his voice holding not a trace of humor. "Before I get angry. And you won't like me when I'm angry."

Gato, to his credit, took a step back. Was this killing intent? This feeling of absolute death. "Nnnh...kill the boy!"

The armed men with their crossbows fired. Surely they would be a match for half dead ninja! And that kid!

Peter flowed like water, jumping up and over, landing crouched on the ground. He struck. It was like watching a play, a carefully constructed fight. They may have been untrained, but there were many. Naruto stared in awe. "Waah..." Was Peter-san always like that? A guy his age who was better than him? Woah, there are so many powerful people out there!

Kakashi's sharingan eye tracked Peter's movements. Even without it he could appreciate the kid's skill, his grace. So this was hiding under his nose? It would appear his retrieval would be larger than usual. He glanced over at Zabuza. "That kid." The mist nin manged a half smile. "Is just like my Haku."

Kakashi wasn't sure how to take that.

Peter weaved around, kicking people in the shin, letting them collide into each other. His danger sense gave him plenty of warning and with his superior reflexes he was able to clear a path for himself. He had to restrain himself, his strength. These thugs may have bullied the people of Wave, but it didn't mean he should kill them. Break their bones, sure, but their life wasn't his to take.

"Get him!" Two men were rushing forward with swords. Peter flipped over them, grabbing the back of their pants and tossed them to the side. Aside from a few minor cuts, he was untouched. The kid turned to look at Gato. Even if he was untouched, there was blood all over him from everyone else. It gave the boy a rather terrifying appearance. Regular thugs were no match for ninja, especially one who didn't look like he fought all. Darn those crafty ninjas keeping a person in reserve!

"...I...I can give you money!" Gato pleaded, having fallen over in the middle of the tussle. "Just don't kill me. Tell Zabuza he'd get his money!"

Peter cocked his head to the side. "I don't take money from criminals." Then a pause. "And I don't work for Zabuza."

Another ninja? "Who..who are you?"

"Just your friendly Amazing Spider-man." Those words felt right in Peter's mouth, in his mind. Even if he didn't get what they were. "My grandpa is the one you're trying to kill. So yeah, I'm not taking money from you. Or working for you. Or anything for you."

Gato shivered. He tried backing up, maybe he could run behind one of his men and flee. As he backed up, he ran into someone. Gato looked behind him.

There stood Haku, a kunai in his hand and a smile on his face. "I told you what would happen if you got near us again."


	7. Sakura vs Peter Again!

A/N:

**Alucard: Yes, it is a cool story. And there shall be an update. Here it is.**

**Skreech: Yes, Haku and Zabuza are pretty popular and I find that it'd be interesting to explore how they would survive.**

* * *

><p>Death was a very stark and grim reality. It didn't mean that it was something that was accepted without feelings or meaning. A death of a friend strikes harder than the death of a criminal. That was probably the only reason why Sakura didn't puke her guts out. The sheer glee on Haku's face on beheading Gato did make Naruto feel uneasy in his belly. Konoha's attempts at safeguarding their youth from the reality of the ninja career was a double edged sword.<p>

Naruto made a face.

Peter made a face.

Haku cleaned the kunai using Gato's jacket before tossing it back to Naruto. He may have stolen it from the young man when they were fighting.

Kakashi blinked. "So..."

* * *

><p>"You're leaving?" Inari asked behind tear stained cheeks, looking up at Peter.<p>

"Only for a little while." Peter messed with Inari's hair. "Kakashi said it'd be a good opportunity."

Inari took a second to glare at the jonin behind the safety of his older brother before fixating his watery gaze back to Peter. "You'll write?"

"Course! I should probably be back soon anyways."

Zabuza watched this teary display with a frown. "That kid has no idea does he, eh? Kakashi." The injuries he'd sustained on the bridge were far greater than any medical care he could scrape together and by all rights, Kakashi could have killed him and received a bounty from Mist. However the Konoha jonin had offered him a deal. Either see how far his luck holds or come along with him to Konoha for medical attention.

They wanted Haku. His bloodline would be valuable. Kakashi was smart enough to know that Haku wouldn't go anywhere without Zabuza. They could kill him in their leisure. The missing nin gingerly flexed his fingers. His arms were wrapped and stitched together, he couldn't fight, not in his condition. He was at Kakashi's mercy.

The jonin lazily looked up from his book, thumbing past the page. "What did you say?"

This was probably one of the most successful missions he ever had with his cute little genin. No one died and he was retrieving two bloodlines. And they also accomplished their mission and got training in. Not to mention this C-class mission would be changed into a B-Class. He was also bringing in two missing nin from Mist.

Haku was interested, amused even. He'd never been to Konoha and certainly getting the medical attention Zabuza required was a good reason as any. Besides, Naruto's stories about his village was fascinating. There were so many bloodlines in Konoha, and they were respected there. Konoha sounded like a dream, a place where people could be happy. He was of course, appropriately wary. It would be kind to say that Naruto was naive, far too trusting. There was always a bad side, always a darkness.

Sasuke tched ignoring the goodbyes. The only good thing he got from this venture was his eyes. With these eyes he could defeat Itachi. Yet, would it be the only thing that would ensure his victory? The strength of those outside his village was terrifying. He needed to get better, he needed to be stronger than anyone. He was an Avenger and the path he walks on is that of...

Naruto was strong. Sasuke couldn't ignore that. That bumbling idiot had gotten stronger through hard work. Sasuke may have natural talent but what could talent do against hard work? No, he was a far better ninja than Naruto. He was a genius. That meant something.

* * *

><p>The trip back was longer than walking towards the Land of Wave, namely for the three gimps. Haku was mildly injured, Sasuke was stubbornly walking along and Zabuza was the gimp of all gimps. At least Sakura got practice for her first aid kit. The disgruntled glares she got from Zabuza were part of the learning experience, surely! Right.<p>

Anyways, Naruto was a ball of energy, racing up and down the trees as they walked, practicing his tree climbing. At a sedated pace, Peter followed, having been given a crash course for tree climbing. Course he didn't tell them that he already knew how to do whatever it is that they were doing. It was more exciting seeing Naruto try to explain the technique.

Speaking of Naruto, he was trying to use his hands instead of his feet to travel the trees. It wasn't going well.

"Naruto! Be careful!" Sakura shouted under the branch. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"Naw!" Naruto was doing a handstand, moving chakra onto his palms. He slid forward, fingertips scrabbling at the bark, his feet swinging widely.

Kakashi swore knowing that he wasn't in any shape to catch Naruto, Sasuke was still injured and Sakura wouldn't be able to.

"Eyah!" Naruto came to a jarring halt, his hand gripped by...Peter? Who was standing upside down the branch, his firm grip on Naruto's wrist. Naruto noted, with a bit of surprise, just how strong Peter had to be. "Woah, you're really good!" Said Naruto who was being saved from a drop to the forest floor by another skinny kid. Sometimes he really should look at his priorities.

Of the ground below, only Sasuke wasn't surprised. If that kid could outmaneuver him, of course he would be able to tree climb, of course. He had heard what had happened later on the bridge when he was unconscious. Where did this guy come from? Who trained him? On reflex he activated his sharingan, his eyes letting him see the misty red and blue chakra that seeped from the boy's feet. Two chakras? What? He narrowed his eyes, spotting a strange design hovering over Peter's back, it was red and it looked...like a spider. Pain raced into his brain and he shut his sharingan off, winching. He still wasn't healed enough to use his eyes for long moments. But he knew what he saw. Of course Peter would have a bloodline, it all made sense now.

"You going to be okay?" Peter asked, still holding Naruto's wrist. It was a fair drop to the ground.

"Of course! I'm a ninja!" He gave Peter a thumbs up with his other hand. "Believe it!"

"...Sure." And Peter dropped Naruto, following after, flipping in the air to land on his feet. As promised, Naruto landed on his feet only to be felled by Sakura's punch to the head.

"You idiot!" She said rather shrilly.

Peter looked at Sasuke, then to Kakashi and then two the two missing nin. No one seems to be stopping this. He cleared his throat. "Hey, Sakura."

"Yes?" It was alarming how she could go from threatening to sweet.

"...Is it part of your training that allows you to hit Naruto?"

"What?"

Peter shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable as everyone was staring at him, even Naruto. "Well, it's just weird. I mean..." He didn't have solid memories of his own childhood, just the vaguest of voices and images. But he knew what it was like to be hit, to have people staring at you, to be shoved up against something solid and cold. "You shouldn't hit someone just because you're angry. Naruto isn't your personal punching bag."

"Eh!" She had no words. Typical.

He knows everyone was focused on him. It nearly makes him shrink back, his voice hiding in the back of his throat. "Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you get to abuse someone."

Sakura just stared at him.

Peter cleared his throat. "He's your teammate. How could you trust someone who would hit you whenever they feel angry? Worst of all, it looks like you feel justified in your actions."

The walk back was very quiet and very awkward.


	8. Ninja is magic

A/N:

**Webhermit: Haku is always amazing. Peter won't be able to go solo. He is gonna get scooped up by somebody and they'd pressure him into joining. I mean, with a bit of training, some brain washing you got a decent soldier with decent abilities. It's severely understated just how strong Spider-man is in the comics. **

**I trying to figure out what sort of team they would put him on.**

**Guest: I'll try. Fight scenes arn't my thing. **

**Skreech: Sasuke is emo. And Naruto is an idiot. Peter is just pointing something out that had bugged him. Not the best anti-bullying statement, but he's getting there.**

**As for the Sakura bashing, it wasn't bashing her. Her behavior has always struck me as childish and that she didn't seem to notice what the implications were of. The writer is just incapable of writing strong women. Strength comes from more than punching people super hard.**

* * *

><p>Peter walked along the wall, finding it absolutely freeing to do it without being exposed. So this was a ninja village. There was people running around the rooftops, people in those strange clothes wandering around, and then there were the ones in the black with the white masks. Those people gave him the creeps. His creep alert kept ringing every time they got near him.<p>

The moment they stepped past the massive walls, every part of Peter felt watched. A thousand eyes had focused on them. Haku knows it, the way he moves changes, subtly. Zabuza knows it, and merely swaggers more. Naruto is blind to it, relishing instead in being back at home. Sakura is the same, grateful just to be back. And Sasuke? Sasuke is moody, quiet, a pair of eyes that stare into Peter as if they could see him.

"Well, we're going to have to report back to the Hokage about our new additions!" Kakashi beamed at his students. "Then after a long briefing, then you can go home."

One could almost see the air deflate out of Naruto as he tries to figure out how many hours he has to suffer before he could get to eat his precious ramen.

"But seeing how we have three cripples, I suppose we could go to the hospital first."

Out of the three cripples, only Sasuke glared at Kakashi.

It had taken a while for Naruto to stop gasping when Peter demonstrated his unparalleled ability to walk on surfaces. Even longer for Sasuke to stop glaring at him. Kakashi had called him a natural, gifted, a genius. That just made Sasuke glare even harder if it were possible. All Peter knew was that if he wanted to stick, he sticks. It was that simple. He didn't say it though, he had a feeling that would just piss Sasuke off even more.

The hospital itself was clean, quiet, and there was people lingering in the hallways that looked to be a mix between ninjas and just people. There was even someone dressed in an all green...jumpsuit?

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL~"

"...Gai.."

A man in all green appeared suddenly in front of them, thumbs up, waves crashing in the background.

There was just silence.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Naruto asked, mostly confounded by the image before him.

"Naruto-kun, we should be polite to the mentally ill." Haku said cheerfully behind Zabuza. "Right, Zabuza-san?"

Zabuza grunted.

"Gai-sensei is not mentally ill!" Clone copy number one appeared, the same haircut, the same clothes. The same smile. "He is the best sensei ever!"

"Lee!"

"GAI!"

Waves splashed behind the two as they embraced.

Right then. Kakashi took that moment to drag his students away from the splash zone and towards the receptionist where he could check in Sasuke, Haku and Zabuza. The three were quickly swept away by nurses, waves of black following behind them.

"You guys stay here. Be safe, don't burn the hospital down." One could hear the heart in his voice as he spoke before he vanished in a whirl of leaves.

Peter stared blankly at the hallway and then at the Naruto. "What now?"

"RAMEN!"

Sakura cursed inside her head but refrained from smacking Naruto. It was progress. During the rest of the walk, she had only her thoughts for company. That she may have acted wrongly, childishly, doing exactly what she accused Naruto of doing was unsettling. Sure Naruto was an idiot, loud, and not at all like Sasuke-kun but that didn't mean her own actions were correct. Peter's words were far more effective than any corrective action, than any physical blow. She was useless the last mission, she didn't fight anyone, all she did was keep an eye on their client and sure that was important, the mission comes first but it wasn't impressive. Sasuke would never look at her. He was looking at Naruto, the idiot and even at Peter.

What could she do to make him look at her? Sasuke-kun has always been looking at something else, someone else in the distance. Sometimes it feels like he isn't even looking at them, like they weren't teammates. How was Ino's training, was she learning something amazing? Was she becoming a shinobi?

* * *

><p>Zabuza stared at the interrogator. He grunted.<p>

The nurse poked at his arm.

The ANBU interrogator stared back.

Meanwhile in another room, Haku smiled cheerfully at his interrogator.

It was hard to tell which room had the greater tension, the one with the smiling face or the one with the frowny face.

* * *

><p>"Well?" The Sandaime looked at the report on his desk, skepticism in his voice. "You managed to wrangle two missing nins to come with you quietly?"<p>

"It helped that one is a limpet for another, and that they were both injured heavily during the fighting."

There was just a look of disbelief direct at Kakashi's way. "And you also managed to find an unknown bloodline. On the same mission."

"Don't forget my cute genin managed to complete the mission without getting gravely injured or killed!"

"Yes, that is a first." Sarutobi puffed on his pipe. "What is your assessment of the boy?"

The boy who walked on walls like he was born to was an enigma. High chakra levels, excellent control, innate ability it would seem like it. His body regulated chakra on an unconscious level. They would need a Hyugya to look deeper into the matter. "He's a civilian, or that's the memories he's been given. Relatively harmless. Whatever plan he was a part of, he doesn't know about it."

"A sleeper agent? Difficult to do though without a trigger. If there was a bloodline like that boy's we would have cataloged it already."

"I don't believe so sir. He could be from a minor village, one that doesn't have a standing military. A great deal of people were displaced since the last great war. Whole lines wiped out."

The water logged picture of a teenager with an elderly pair sat in the front of the report. Kakashi had filched it without Peter realizing it, he'll return it later. Perhaps by finding out who those people were, they could figure out where the boy came from. No one was stupid enough to let go of someone with that sort of skill without some purpose or plan. Anyone can kill, children thrown at high enough velocities could kill and children with knives could easily kill someone.

"All of our genin teams are accounted for and putting Peter into a team that is skilled lower than him would halt his progress." The Sandaime tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I think I have someone in mind."

"Sir?"

"Get me Mitarashi Anko." The ANBU that were ever present in his private office vanished under his command.

Kakashi stared at his Hokage, his poker face shot to hell. He wouldn't say anything to disagree with his leader's commands, not even when every part of him disagreed. At least it wasn't Gai, the last thing anyone needed was another person running around in a green jumpsuit. Would Konoha survive if that were to ever come to pass?

Probably not.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smirked under his hat. Anko had always been coming forward to get promoted as a full jonin. He would give her this opportunity to prove herself. While he could never see her train three genin without drowning one or two of them, he could see her trying her hand at apprenticeship. Besides, if this worked out, he might even assign her a genin team. From there, she could become a jonin.

* * *

><p>Naruto was well past this third bowl, stuffing his face with his fourth bowl and drowning it all in yummy soup. Sakura meanwhile, ignored all of this by helping Peter with his chopsticks. Despite having lived in Wave country for a few months, he seemed to quite clumsy and resort to making stab motions at his noodles.<p>

Up close, he didn't seem that bad. Peter had rounder eyes than most, brown hair that flopped everywhere and was strangely, very solid. She had accidentally lost her balance and fell into him. It was like hitting a wall.

"Thanks." Peter said again as she helped him with his chopsticks. "Hey, Naruto, I can pay for my bowl. No worries."

After seeing the tower of bowls that was steadily growing by Naruto's side, it was the least he could do.

"Peter-san, did you...get an allowance?"

"No Sakura, I worked part time jobs back at home. And I helped around, worked on the bridge. That kind of stuff."

"Oh. Well that makes sense. As a ninja, you do jobs, like the one we were on, and you get money for it. Although..." Sakura spared a second to shoot a glare at Naruto. "It would be better to save up money and to buy things that will last than binge eating ramen."

"Iwts' goood." Naruto said around a mouthful of ramen.

"Have you ever had dango before? Or BBQ?"

Peter shook his head.

"Well, you should." Sakura smiled, trying to get past the awkward silence. "Umm...I was wondering, what are you going to do? Ninja teams-"

"He's gonna be with us, duh!" Naruto said loudly. "We'll be awesome!"

"Naruto!" The boy cowered at her tone. "We can't. Teams are composed for a specific reason and unless you want to get booted off the team, or me or even Sasuke-kun that is the only way Peter would be able to join us!"

This was a lot better than hitting someone. Informing them of their own stupidity actually helped her blood pressure. "Most likely he would have to join another team, or go through the academy!"

"Ah..." Naruto managed to squeak out. "S..sorry?"

Sakura's expression softened. "Naruto, you can't just say things like that. You really should read up on what we do, it's not just all about battles or rescuing princesses."

Around the corner, against the side of the ramen shop, Kakashi smiled. Trust that Sakura would know of a shinobi's support structure, the reason why they were formed. Even Sasuke wouldn't know or he might not even care. Out of the three, only Sakura's goals were malleable. She might make the best shinobi out of them all, if she worked hard enough to achieve it.

He stepped out into the open, putting a hand on Peter's shoulder. "I'll see you all tomorrow at our meeting place." Then he was gone, along with Peter.

* * *

><p>The best description for whatever just happened was magic. It had to be magic. There was a sudden rush of energy, he could feel it under his skin, on his skin, around him. Then there was a sharp displacement of air, as the place they occupied was empty to another place where air was pushed out. He felt the wind briefly, as Peter felt himself being moved from one place to another.<p>

It was very sudden, unexpected, strange. One second he was eating ramen, or trying to, and the next he was in a building where an old man was staring at him under a huge hat and this oddly dressed woman who looked like she was trying not to kill him. Or maybe that was just how her faced looked and he was reading too much into it.


	9. Anko is Boss yes?

A/N:

**Man I feel lackluster. I hope you guys like this.**

* * *

><p>Anko answered the summons quickly, taking a moment to finish off her dango before walking her ass up a flight of stairs to the office. After a few years as an elite shinobi, one has a very good grasp of what is urgent and what is not urgent. Besides, Kakashi managed to be late all the time and nothing happened to him. No one was on fire, there weren't any cats up any trees. Probably she had some complaint against her for doing something wrong, like chasing genin up trees and keeping them there.<p>

She stepped into the office, dango stick between her lips, all senses attuned to danger.

"Hokage-sama." She knelt respectfully.

"Anko." The Hokage raised his eyebrows. "You're late."

Before she could even shoot a look at the perpetually late Kakashi, the jonin was gone. Fuck that guy. You'd think that training three genin would make him more punctual. Losing the bet was worse than losing the actual money to Asuma.

"My apologies." To the Sandaime who continued to have confidence in her, she would pledge her life and her loyalty.

He sighed, a stream of smoke floating around him. "It is fine. I had simply thought you would arrive here when prompted."

Disappointment stabbed at her ribs, as did the ensuing guilt. "It won't happen again. I did not realize that it was so urgent."

Sarutobi couldn't help but jab her once more. "One day you will find me on the floor of my home, whispering, Help I can't get up."

Instead of guilt, the woman just laughed. Anko snorted, a long string of snickering followed by a snigger. "Sorry. Just, the image of it..." She collapsed on the floor, hands in the air, feet up. "Help, I can't get up." She said in a rather close imitation.

There was nothing but an indulgent smile on his face. "Anko."

She got back onto her feet, all business. "The message said it was urgent but not the nature of it." She said, in a way to explain her reasons for why she took her sweet time to the tower.

"Anko, how do you feel about a promotion?"

"Sir?"

Sarutobi picked up a folder from his desk and handed it over to her. In it was the profile that Kakashi had written up along the mission, notations and observations. Some of it was useless trivia, personality traits. Anko flipped through the notes, reading quickly. Once she was done, her eyes shot up. "You can't be serious. Train someone? A brat? I'm not..."

She was not capable of this. everything she touches turned into dust. Her only teacher turned out to be a traitor, a sick man who experimented on her, took her trust and broke it. "I'm not capable of teaching."

"I think you'll surprise yourself." Sarutobi said softly. "I'm growing old, by all rights I should not be here. Yet I am, and there is no one else who can take my place. What else am I to do? We must look to the future. Our future is in our children, they will carry the will of fire. They need knowledgeable shinobi to guide them. You said you wished to be promoted, well here is your chance. Will you take it?"

* * *

><p>Kakashi's arrival was expected and seeing who he had in tow was also something to be expected. But nothing could prepare a person for a first impression. The kid swayed and then fell flat on his face. Anko gave Kakashi a raised eyebrow. She was not impressed. Of course, anyone's first time being dragged along in a shunshin jutsu is unique. The high velocity of the technique gave some shinobi nausea and disoriented them.<p>

"Oi." Anko said, loudly. "Are you Parker Peter?"

Brown hair, punchable face, big round eyes look at her. "It's Peter Parker."

"And? What did you say brat?"

"Peter Parker...like if Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers..." Peter trailed off, seeing as the woman looked impressively furious. Not to mention provocative. How could a lady in an orange skirt and fishnets with a coat look dangerous? Kind of how someone dressed up in a leather cat costume could be dangerous. The claws are hidden. Flickers of a memory passed before him, a woman in black and white, voluptuousness.

"Just Peter." He squeaked.

She looked at him and found him wanting. It was only the promise of what she could achieve if she trains him that kept her from leaving. Meh, at least she got permission to mess with someone. A huge smile appeared on her face.

Peter tried very hard to not scream like a little girl when a huge poisonous snake appeared on his arm. In fact, he tried very hard to not move, as the snake slithered up onto his chest. He tried not to blink.

Kakashi tilted his head and watched Peter stare at something that wasn't really there. He glanced over at Anko who had this disturbing look on her face. Sarutobi tried not to facepalm. He wanted Anko to teach, not torment.

"SNAKES!" Peter yelled as he lost the staring game, brushing his arm.

* * *

><p>"You're really bad at sensing genjutsu, arn't ya?" Anko asked as they walked down the streets of Konoha.<p>

Peter stayed a wary distance from her, still sore from the snake incident. He could still feel it right now, cold scales crawling up his bare arm, hypnotic eyes catches his gaze.

"I'm not tricked this time." Peter said with a glower, ignoring the snake on his shoulder.

The snake looked at him. "I'm real, you know." She said calmly, curling around his neck.

"Oh." The snake curled tighter around his throat and Peter began to question his decision to become a magic ninja.

"Don't worry kid. I make this look good."

Peter seriously doubted that but was smart enough not to say anything.


	10. Snakes

A/N:

**Peter is no fool. What other people perceive is their own prerogative. **

* * *

><p>"You're not scared of me, are you?" Asked the snaked around his throat.<p>

"Um, I am actually, I just have really good bowel control."

"No..." She pulled herself up, swaying by his face. "You were not at all frightened by the genjutsu."

Peter had realized that the snake at the tower was fake, it had taken him by surprise but he was not fooled by it. While his eyes may have registered the snake's image, his other senses could not detect it. And even with a real snake on him, he did not detect intent to harm. But Peter was not a cocky boy, nor was he foolish. A magician does not reveal all his tricks after all.

"You could detect that?" Peter asked the snake curiously.

"Hmmmm...yessssss." If a snake could chuckle she did. "I was hidden in my summoner's coat and was able to detect a lack of heart rate increase, perspiration, fear...you were very calm."

The boy with the snake around his neck continued to pull weeds out of the garden of a nice old lady. "Do you really have the ability to detect heat with your eyes? I've heard that snakes are able to discern temperature differences with their tongues."

The snake summons thoughtfully curled her coils as she considered the ward that Anko picked up. The boy was smarter than he looked and certainly more clever than her first assessment. She answered his questions about her anatomy and biology, while asking questions about her own. Simple things. The summons knew that she would tell Anko a few things but not everything. There were some secrets worth keeping, or at the very least, worth bargaining for. The boy smelled oddly familiar, and there was a stench of spider. It was concentrated along his back but the smell permeated every part of him. Curious, what a strange child this one was.

* * *

><p>"Now for the last process."<p>

Zabuza looked bored as she sat in the chair, a number two pencil in hand and a sheet of paper in front of him. He had to take the jonin exam all over again, well parts of it. They had to check that his knowledge was still up to date. This was after a full physical, so at the very least his arms were healing. All in all, the place wasn't too bad. They hadn't even started to torture him yet. That was a bonus.

"We have a questionnaire we need to you to fill out. Your likes and dislikes, where you have lived, people you met. We need to do a full background check after all. There are two hundred questions in all, please fill out each part with the best of your knowledge." A thick stack of paper was placed in front of him.

"Remember, if you need to sharpen your pencil, there is a pencil sharpener over there." Continued the disembodied voice.

Zabuza rolled his eyes and started to work on the paper. Question number one, what is your name? Question number two, are you a boy or a girl? Question number three, how would you describe yourself? Question number four, what is your rival's name? So on and so forth.

Maybe he was wrong and this was their version of torture.

Five questions in and his pencil tip snapped. Might as well use that pencil sharpener. After a few seconds of grinding, he had a point tip just like new. Zabuza continued on with the questionnaire.

From behind the trick mirror, Ibiki Morino smirked. "I like this guy. He's actually going to do it."

"Sir?" Asked one of his subordinates.

"We make this test to see if they really want to stick around. It'd be easier for him to escape the room and he knows it. Yet here he is jumping through hoops." Ibiki wanted to pull out all the information he could out of Zabuza but most of it wouldn't be relevant. As a missing nin he had no ties to any village. There were other groups that collected information. He was admittedly surprised that he didn't get a chance to question the boy. Either boys.

There was something brewing, plans being made. Ibiki hated that he was going to be in the middle of it and no one was telling him a single damn thing. Damn Danzo and his group. Shit was going down and he was riding blind through it all. Not to mention, Anko got pulled away to train the new kid.

Maybe he could contact Jiraya and see if he had a new Icha Icha Paradise written. Might be able to bribe Kakashi with it. Speaking of Kakashi, those brats of his were also under his radar. Sasuke and Naruto, the resident genius and the resident demon carrier. The girl was there too but she really wasn't worth any notice. He wasn't being cruel but she simply did not bring anything to the team. Kakashi better not submit those kids to the chunin exams, talking to a bunch of brats was not his idea of a fun time. It was simply too much trouble to invite foreigners to the village for the exams. There was a heavy risk to it and also a prize, more people would come to Konoha for jobs. But still, the trouble.

Ibiki tched as he watched Zabuza studiously answer the question.

* * *

><p>Haku sipped his tea. The nurses in Konoha were very courteousness and quite expedient in their healing. It was as Naruto said Konoha was. It was bright, the people were quite kind and it was as if he stepped into an entirely different land. Naruto had even came by to visit him at the hospital and get him flowers that, Haku suspected, had belonged in someone's garden. In fact, Naruto had promised to come by again. The kid didn't have any friends. That or he could count the amount he had on one hand. A kid like that having in friends in a village like this? Something was up.<p>

"How are you doing?" Asked the silver haired genin, his glasses glinting in the light.

"Better. Thank you."

Kabuto smiled.

Haku felt a chill run down his back. After years of being on the run, Haku could usually smell a rat. This guy may proclaim to be a genin, act meek and kind, but he had a secret agenda. He just felt like a mask being projected over something else. Naruto's mask allowed him to power through many disappointments but this guy...this guy was just...

"Haku!" Naruto ran through the door almost knocking Kabuto onto his face. "Are you better now? Can we go get ramen? I know this awesome ramen shop that has a lot of choices and its cheap and super tasty!"

"I suppose we could." Haku acknowledged, getting up from bed. He was to be released with a clean bill of health. Where he went from there, no one exactly told him. The hospital appeared to be a hub of hectic activity, but it was well stocked and well maintained. He allowed Naruto to drag him away, yammering the entire time.

"Eh, Peter?" Naruto's voice could shatter glass. He better hit puberty soon.

"Oh, hi." Peter waved. Upon closer inspection the weird collar around his neck was actually a snake.

Naruto's reaction was priceless as he jumped back, alarmed. "You have a snake around your neck." He hissed.

"...It's a she and she's right here."

"...Wait, the snake can talk?" Asked Naruto, dumbfounded, as if he didn't realize that summons could talk.

"Yes." The snake said dryly. "I misjudged your intelligence level and had deigned to remain silent as to not embarrass anyone."

There was a moment of silence as Naruto tried to figure out if he was being insulted or not.

Peter cleared his throat. "I'm here for a physical."

"We're gonna get ramen. Want to come?" Apparently Naruto bounces back very well from questions of a logical nature. That or his brain stopped and had to do a hard reboot. "After you know since the hospital doesn't let outside food and I tried this one time so that's how I know."

"...Do you even breathe?" Asked the snake incredulously. "Wait, no, you probably don't need that much oxygen, your brain isn't too large."

Now, Naruto knew he was being insulted. "HEY! "


	11. A start

A/N:

**I'm back. I think. I got something. I think. Comments are welcome.**

* * *

><p>Peter adjusted his footing, shifting his weight to the balls of his feet and waited.<p>

He jumped, landing on the underside of the building, arms crossed in front of his face. He heard the kunai whistling by him as he shifted his body to avoid them.

"Nice reflexes."

The snaked around his neck, otherwise named First, peeked her head up. "Explosive tag."

"Wha-" Peter jumped again, just as the explosion destroyed his perch. He flipped in the air, landing on the ground on the balls of his feet.

"Remember, attacks come from all angles."

"Ah. Yes, sorry."

Peter shifted, his eyes scanning the area. In the first three days of his training, Anko proved to be a terrifying teacher. She didn't seem to approve of anything except live ammunition, and that pain makes lessons sticks. If not for First, he'd been in the hospital for better parts of the week. She proved to have an acute sense of smell, capable of detecting various poisons and informing him on the various shinobi tools used to kill and maim. Aside from chased by a madwoman, it was that bad. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who shared similar interests. Of course, the idea that Anko may be using the snake as a means to track his every movement wasn't that big of a stretch.

Anko had rules and she followed them. Peter was also pretty sure if she wanted to kill him, he'd already be dead. Even if he was very good at dodging attacks, the attack patterns grew more intricate and varied, forcing him to abandon his usual strategy. Mostly, he just ran around like a crazy person who could stick on any surface.

He felt it before he saw it, the explosive tags all over the trees around him. Peter jumped up, pulling out his own kunai from his holster, spinning mid air before tossing them out. He landed neatly on the web of wires, attached to the kunai's handles on various trees. To a passerby it would look as if he was floating in mid air, the wires were that thin.

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."

The alarm sounded signaling the end to the exercise.

Deciding it was best to remain on the high ground, Peter remained standing, looking at the destruction around him. "Huh." Anko's voice appeared above him, she was standing upside down, on the underside of a branch.

"Alright, we're done here." She flicked a hand at him dismissively. "I want you to practice your hand seals. You're terrible at them. If you do the seals wrong, you might blow yourself up, so practice. Or else."

"Yes, ma'am."

Once the boy left, Anko jumped down and tested the wire web. It held her weight, surprisingly. She knelt, poking the wire. It had an unfamiliar sheen on it, as if coated with something. "Evasion skill, high." She said out loud, walking over to the tree where one of the kunai was lodged. Anko placed a single hand on the kunai and tugged it. It remained buried into the wood, not budging.

A small frown appeared on her face. "Strength level."

She pulled at the handle again.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat outside on a tree branch, waiting for a certain person to return home. After being cleared for duty, he went straight back to training. How else was he supposed to get better? With the sharingan he was able to train even more efficiently, allowing him to gauge his chakra levels. But it still wasn't enough. Which was why he was waiting for Peter to return home. Despite how much he despised the other boy, Sasuke could not ignore the difference in skill level. Maybe there was something to be learned.<p>

"..Whatcha doing here?"

The genin nearly jumped out of his shoes, whirling around, a kunai in his hand. Peter stared back at him, having blocked the swing with his forearm. The two boys looked at each other before Sasuke lowered his arm and placed his kunai back into its holster.

"Don't do that." He said gruffly.

"What? Sneak up on you? Arn't you supposed to be a ninja?" Peter teased lightly.

"Tch." Sasuke jumped down landing softly on his feet. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About?" The boy had followed, springing out of the tree with ease.

"...How is your training going? Your apprenticeship." To say that Sasuke was slightly jealous would be a lie. Shouldn't he have a personal trainer? Wasn't he the one with the sharingan?

"Umm..." Peter scratched his head, looking awkward. "I guess it's okay? Anko-sensei is...rough."

"Could you show me?"

"...I guess? I'm not sure if Anko would approve." Peter paused. "Then again, she tried to lick my face. So, sure I'll show you a few things."

Excellent. Once he learned all he could from Peter, then he will surely surpass Naruto. The blonde idiot was getting close to him. He could not allow that.

A few seconds later, a passerby would hear a very incredulous shout. "WHAT! THIS IS ACADEMY STUFF!"

* * *

><p>Naruto peered out of his window. "Oi, shut up! Some people are trying to sleep ya know!" Who was making such a loud ruckus near his place? Jeez, the apartment complex was so much quieter when no one else lived near by. Mainly because the villagers were scared that he was a demon and the shinobi that was on the first floor was probably some ANBU guy.<p>

He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Man. This stinks." Climbing trees was so hard. Especially if he wanted to use it in combat. So far he could travel but he couldn't use jutsu at the same time, or bounce from surface to surface. And all the books he looked at that talked about chakra control were too hard to read. Maybe he should break down and beg Iruka-sensei to reteach that class to him.

Or he could ask Sakura-chan. She seemed to know everything. Must be the big forehead, it probably has a lot of secrets.

"Naruto?"

It came from the door and it sounded like Peter. In a flash, Naruto was up and at the door, opening it. "Peter-san!"

The brown haired youth grinned at him, the snake around his throat hissed. Naruto tried not to stare too much.

"Oh, you got new clothes. Nice. The red looks really good on you."

Peter looked down at his red shirt and blue shorts, down to his shinobi sandals. "Yeah, my sensei burned my other clothes. She said something about puppies that just rubbed her wrong."

Aghast that anyone would burn puppy print shorts, Naruto gaped. "But they were so cute."

"I know. Not to mention, they were a gift."

"Man, that sucks." Naruto blinked, before making room for his guest. "Oh, yeah come on in. I'm not used to guests, don't mind the mess."

Naruto's apartment looked like a tornado hit it and left behind empty instant ramen cups. Everywhere.

Peter stepped inside, stepping over what looked like a cup on the ground that was hosting its own mold colony. "I'm ready when you are."

"Ah, let me grab my stuff then we can start!"

As Naruto dashed away, Peter contemplated exactly why he was here. Anko had told him to go to someone else for historical lessons. He suggested Naruto as the boy lived a few doors away from him. Anko laughed and after she recovered, told him that she gave him her blessing. So here he was, taking history lessons from Naruto. Aside from a few embellishments, the orange clad boy was very good at telling a story.

Naruto ran back in looking panicked. "I left the book at the library. Dammit. And it's closed today. Arrrgggg..."

"Well, this wasn't a complete surprise." First said somewhat snidely along Peter's ear.

"Wait. I know!" Naruto clapped his hands together. "We can ask Hinata-chan!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Hinata sneezed. Perhaps Naruto-kun was thinking of her?<p> 


	12. Hinata

A/N:

**I'm back. I think. I got something. I think. Comments are welcome.**

* * *

><p>"So...whose Hinata-chan?"<p>

Naruto turned his head to look at him as they traversed the streets of Konoha along the walls and not the actual street. It was a means of learning how to properly control his chakra, and Naruto took to the lessons with gutso. Next to the blonde, Peter walked with his hands in his pockets. While Naruto could manage to walk along without sliding off, he couldn't manage the same air of casualness that the brunette exhibited.

"This girl in my class."

"Just a girl?" Both of Peter's eyebrows raised. "Oh. I see."

"Whatya mean, you see?"

"Nothing."

Naruto was so busy staring at Peter he walked into a set of potted plants causing a loud commotion followed by an angry woman with a broom shouting about shinobi. The two boys escaped her broom wraith, with only a few strands of straw in their hair.

"She's this weird girl with white eyes." Naruto began as they continued onto their destination. "A few days ago I was training and I must of passed out or something, and when I woke up she was standing over me." He scratched the back of his head. "I think I screamed. Anyways, apparently she was in my class for a long time. We actually graduated around the same time as well."

"And you never knew till now?"

"Yep."

For a moment, Peter contemplated just how unobservant the blonde was before deciding he really shouldn't comment on it. "So this girl you never met before was standing over your unconscious body, no doubt ready to stab you and harvest your organs for some strange ritual."

Oops.

"Hey!" Peter winced at the slight crack in Naruto's voice. "Don't talk about Hinata-chan like that. She's really nice."

"The better to lure you in her house, gut you and deep fry you." First added, amusement curled in her voice. "Use your skull as a cooking dish as we all know there isn't anything there."

Naruto puffed up, his over sized orange jacket making him look like a puffer fish, much larger than he actually was. "She's not gonna eat me! She even helped me out. Her weird eyes bulges out and she can see chakra and stuff. She's pretty cool. And she's really smart too! She even eats Ramen with me!" One could hear the capitalization in Naruto's voice.

"I do suppose it's true, the path to a man's heart is his stomach." Peter mused, a smile on his face. He was actually really pleased that Naruto made another friend who was a girl. Now that he thought about, where were the other teams? Were they all on missions? Was there a designated genin area for them to hang out?

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Quietly, he suppressed a sigh. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just...let's go meet her. This, Hinata."

* * *

><p>They dropped onto the street level the last block over, the mere act speaking volumes about Naruto's new level of chakra control. It made Peter quite proud of him. He'd been giving Naruto lessons, and they weren't really lessons as much as advice and just encouragement. Simply believing in Naruto gave him a boost.<p>

Down the street, past the stalls, past the smell of good food and unique smells.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto sang out, running over to what looked to be a marshmallow with feet and hands. Damn, Naruto wasn't lying about the eyes.

"N-n-naruto-kun." The marshmallow girl stuttered out.

"Whose that?" Asked someone else, a boy with marks on his face and a white dog in his jacket. "Ooooh...it's the dead last. Hey, what are you doing here?!"

And standing next to them was an eerily quiet boy with a white coat and dark sunglasses. He seemed to be staring at Peter, his entire body language seemed to be directed at him, ignoring Naruto completely.

As always, Naruto directed his energies towards the other boy. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

"Hah? You? You couldn't train a dog. Shit head. I'm Inuzuka Kiba!" Kiba pointed to himself with his thumb. "I am going to be Hokage."

In the background, Peter introduced himself to Hinata. "Hi, I'm Parker Peter. And you are?"

Hinata bowed slightly, politely. "Hyuga Hinata of Team Kurenai"

"Aburame Shino." Said creepy guy with the dark glasses.

Peter cocked his head to the side, wondering why exactly high upturned collar guy was so weirdly familiar. He shook his head. "Um, have you ever..thought of building gigantic metal arms? That are kind of like octopus arms?"

"No."

"Ah."

Hinata looked between the two boys. "Umm...Peter-san, how do you know Naruto-kun?"

"I met him on a mission. He's a hero to my little brother. Anyone who is a friend of his, is a friend of mine. So, uh it was nice to meet you. Naruto even told me a few things about you, I think he likes you."

The two shinobi regarded him quietly. Hinata was blushing a deep red and Shino was stonily staring.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Kiba were now tustling around, the white dog sitting on the side, watching them.

"And I am First." Hissed First from around his neck, peeking out of his t-shirt collar. "Thank you for not introducing me."

Hinata nearly recoiled, her big pupil-less eyes widened. "...Is that..a summons?"

"Yessss..." First flicked out her tongue, tasting the air. "You're quite bright, Hyuga-dono."

If possible, the girl grew even a darker red. "Ano...that's my father, not me. I am not clan head."

The snake flicked her head dismissively. "You will be."

Peter glanced down at the snake and then back at Hinata who was turning an impressive crimson. "Why not address you properly?" First asked, rhetorically. "You are the first born."

"I..." Hinata ducked her head down. "I am not suited to be clan head."

Not really knowing what it meant to be clan head, but he could figure it out. Anyone Naruto has confidence in, Peter had equal respect. Besides, First always knew what she was talking about. The snake summons had proven to be a treasure trove of information and advice. It was nice to have someone who he could talk to, who could tell him if he's doing it right. Kind of like a mentor, but more like a friend.

"I think, and this is just from meeting you, but you're really nice." Peter shrugged. "And you're also a shinobi, clearly, you're quite capable."

A loud scream interrupted their conversation as Naruto jumped around, a hole in the back of his pants. Nearby, sat a rather triumphant puppy, with a bright orange fabric in his mouth.

"..." If a snake could stare incredulously, First was doing a pretty good impression. "This kid..."

Peter winced. "I should get Naruto."

Shino watched as the brunette dragged the blonde away, Kiba shouting enthusiastically at the two. He narrowed his eyes behind his dark glasses. By his side, Hinata was still doing a very impressive impression of a tomato. The insects in his body stopped their buzzing, calming down at last.

He wasn't sure what to make of the boy, just that he wasn't part of their class, and that judging by what Peter had said, the boy was an anomaly. Certainly someone worth notice, or else he wouldn't be wandering around, with a kunai hostler tied to his leg. Shino slowly unfurled his hand, blood flowing back into his veins.

Who was Peter?

* * *

><p>"How is your apprenticeship going?" The Hokage asked, puffing on his pipe.<p>

"Good, sir." Anko placed her report down on the desk. "It's an eye opener."

"It's an entirely different thing to be teaching, isn't it? Makes you feel good inside."

"...Actually, I feel despair but that isn't a subject I should be talking about."

"...Really? Perhaps we should be talking about that. You haven't been going to see your therapist."

Anko secretly and privately thought about murdering her therapist. Whatever happened to confidentiality? "I was busy training sir."

He nodded slowly, clearly not buying her story.

Deciding a change of subject was needed, Anko cleared her throat. "Sir, my report will outline why I asked to see you." She took a deep breath. "Honestly, I don't think I should be training him. What he needs is to be introduced into the academy. Pure talent and strength can only get you so far. I request to put him through the academy, sir. And then cycled into a genin team."

The Sandaime flipped through the report as she spoke. "You do not think he is a genius?"

Anko seethed, eternally. "He's smart. Very tactically inclined."

"You also noted his strength level, evasion skill, and..." He flipped to the last page. "He fixed your radio?"

"I can't teach him the basics, it's a waste of my time."

"Perhaps you shouldn't teach him the basics then. If you believe he can handle more, sophisticated training." He sat forward in his chair, "Honestly, I believe you can do better. He is your charge. His training reflects upon you. You have full autonomy to teach as you see fit."

If one's genin reflected on their teacher, Anko had a few things to say to a few certain jonin. Namely Gai. And Kakashi. And a few other idiots.

Catching what the Hokage was suggesting, she nodded. If the training breaks her student, it'd break him. Just like...like her own teacher. Anko's face twisted in pain as she recalled her own painful past. She wasn't anything like him, she wasn't going to experiment on her student. That wasn't who she was.

Her own frustrations were upon her, and not her student. This wasn't just a test for her student, but a test for her as well, for her to become a jonin.

"I understand."


	13. Origins

A/N: So, long story short I was busy with stuff. Haven't really been thinking on what to do. So I went and read Origins. My inspiration for this arc.

* * *

><p><em>What happened? <em>

Peter lied in darkness, near invisible strands of...something holding him up. _Where was he? _The familiar feeling of First coiled around his arm was missing, as was her assuring hiss. The last thing he remembered was going to the hospital to actually get his physical done. The nurse._...she touched his back and then..._

"Are you going to be lying there all day?"

A voice, soft and...old? Raspy.

"Get up, boy."

He managed to sit up, and found himself staring at a person he...he could not remember where he say her before. "...I know you.."

"Yes." The woman said softly. "I am Madam Web."

"Oh."

"I only have a short time to explain a few things and you probably won't remember it so I will say this quickly. Follow the strands. It might lead you to what you seek. It might even answer a few questions that you have. Not all of them but a few."

Peter could sense the urgency in her voice and how her figure, even now, began to blur away. "Wait, are you...are you my mom?"

Madam Web blinked at him before shaking her head. "No."

Then she was gone, the strands under his feet glowed blue and stretched outwards. Peter got up, rubbing the red and blue uniform he wore. It never occurred to him to wonder why he was wearing what appeared to be skin tight clothing. There was more important things to think about, the strands, the woman, and the tiny spiders crawling along the strands.

* * *

><p>"Well that was a failure." Anko said flatly, entangled in a web, glued to the side of the room. Across from her, Gai struggled mightily. "Cursed threads!" Gai had attempted to activate one of the chakra gates to give himself a burst of strength to destroy the webs binding him. It didn't work.<p>

She rolled her eyes. Yes, everyone here can tell that the threads were chakra enhanced and were quite strong. They also came from her student. Said student was in the middle of the room, in the cocoon. There was a terrifying chakra coming from the cocoon itself, demon chakra. But that didn't make sense, there were only nine demons sealed in humans.

Presumably, they were to be food while the demon metamorphosed the host.

Gai must of sensed her worry and cheerfully spoke up. "Do not worry, the fire of youth will surely emblazon your youthful student!"

"Gai." Anko glared. "Shut up."

She continued her slow sawing of the strands, swearing under her breath. The threads were so fucking sticky. From what she could remember, she heard a scream and dashed into the room, kunai drawn. Then the next few seconds were a blur, as something had manhandled her and glued her to the wall. Gai came dashing in seconds later only to get clocked upside the head and webbed to the wall opposite of her. Then the rest of the hospital followed suit. It was completely covered in white webbing. Not to mention there were little spiders everywhere and by little, she meant they were the size of genin students. There were bigger ones guarding the place. Maybe even snacking on a few people. After this, she was going to crush every spider she sees. Those fuckers were terrifying.

Thankfully she still had her radio on and was receiving everything. There was a support team outside as well as some ANBU. They were all waiting. For what, she didn't care. Those lazy bastards should be doing something.

* * *

><p>"Hey, what's going on?" Naruto asked, standing a respectful distance away from the squad of ANBU that were surrounding the hospital."What are those weird things on the wall?"<p>

"Looks like...webs?" Sakura said with the air of someone who was uncertain. "But that's impossible! There's nothing that can do that to a whole building!"

"Can't you tell?" Sasuke asked flatly, glaring at the building with his sharingan turned on. "It's reinforced with chakra. It's probably very strong."

Unsure of whether or not Sasuke was insulting him, Naruto spoke louder and with greater force. "I know that! But why isn't anyone clearing it away?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto. "Most likely the ANBU tried and they couldn't."

"Why not light it on fire? Wouldn't that clear it?"

"That's stupid. It most likely wouldn't burn being chakra enforced."

Sakura interrupted what might have been a tussle with a gasp and a point. "Look, that ANBU is stuck against the webs!"

The two boys turned to look.

* * *

><p>"Wait, you're saying someone got stuck? Now you can't light it on fire, can you." Anko said sarcastically into her mic. "Dumbass. Tell them to stop touching it. Even if you did light it on fire, suggesting it burns, how do you know it wouldn't just completely light up and kill everyone in the hospital?"<p>

There was silence on the other side.

"Yeah, exactly. Look, Gai and I are the closest to the epicenter. I'll keep you updated. Stop touching the damn thing. And no, I'm not saying this cuz this is my student, I'm saying this because you are all morons." Anko spat out. "Let me handle this."

It was her student though, one of the biggest responsibilities she had. This was, also, totally her fault. Peter had talked to her about the weird spider shaped tattoo on his back and how he had no clue where he got it from. Or the fact that no one knew where Peter was from. He could have been a sleeper agent who needed the right trigger. She was the one who suggested he go to the hospital to get his physical done, to get his tattoo checked over. The tattoo was a seal. Mid run in, she saw Peter, his tattoo was glowing. It was also moving. Freakishness aside, it reminded her of...her old master's seal. The "ink' had ran down his back, elongating the limbs.

It left a bad taste in her mouth. All of this.

Her smart and clueless student was in the middle of this fiasco. Whatever happens next, it won't be good. No one likes surprises, especially shinobi. If Peter survives, if he returns to his usual self...it might not end well for him. But he was her student and she will protect him. Once she gets out of this stupid web.

* * *

><p>Peter walked down the strands, paying the scuttling spiders no mind. He didn't notice that he got taller, his voice deeper, his hair longer. Peter didn't notice a great deal of things, simply because...that was who he is. Peter Parker was spiderman. Innately he knew that. It didn't seem weird to his brain, the details sliding away like water on a duck.<p>

It let focus his observation skills on other things, such as the massive spider that was sitting on the center of the web.

Nearby was...a snake?

"First?" Peter asked, thinking past the fog in his mind.

The snake squirmed in the web, the head and tail visible. "Help. Heeeelp." First was not going to become dinner. Or lunch or breakfast.

Peter glanced at the spider and then at First. The spider's eight eyes didn't seem like they were looking at anything or rather everything, but Peter had a feeling they were somehow focused on him. He gulped.

Right. Now what?


End file.
